All over the world, people paid $31.8 billion to watch films in 2010, making it a very happy year for the business. James Cameron’s Avatar was the top-seller of 2010, raking in $1.95 bn at the global box office. That smashes the record held by Titanic, another Cameron film.
Disney’s Toy Story3 and Alice in Wonderland come right after Avatar with just over $1 billion each. The biggest surprise, however, is the complex, layered Leonardo DiCaprio starrer, Inception. It was the fifth highest grossing film at the global box office in 2010, raking in an astounding $824 million.
You wouldn’t have thought a complicated story like that would be on any chart of the top 20 films worldwide. That, among other surprises, is what Focus 2011: World Film Trends, a report on sale from the European Audiovisual Observatory throws up (see chart). It also shows three important trends.
One, the five top studios’ dependence on the global office is now at an all-time high. About 1.5-2 times the money made at the North American box office was made at the international one by the top 20 films. That means international revenues are now way beyond the 50 per cent mark for most studios. Watch, then, for more investment in local content in markets such as India and South Korea, which have a robust film industry.
Two, ticket sales and box office gross continued to stagnate in the US. So, while North America holds steady at roughly a third of the global box office, it is relatively less relevant in determining what the studios will do. They, however, continue to make good old-fashioned creature and special-effect films, the stuff that gets the highest results at the global box office. That is why Inception is a surprise, possibly for the studios, too.
Three, digital screens, especially 3D ones, continued to show galloping growth (see chart). Total digital screens doubled and so did 3D. One part of it is led by falling technology costs. But the biggest trigger was Avatar. In anticipation of its release, thousands of theatres globally invested in 3D digital technology. Also, ticket prices for a 3D digital film are higher, so studios have been churning these out faster — note Kung Fu Panda 2 ,among dozens of other sequels, that are now being screened in a larger number of 3D screens.
The Indian box office looks dismal in 2010 because it was a bad year. Except for Dabangg and Endhiran, there really hasn’t been a big hit.
